The world that isn't ours
by Kurumaka
Summary: Once beautiful world, now laying in ruins, debris everywhere. Empty houses, only standing out of good will. Zombies roaming the streets, skeletons shooting innocent animals as far as the eye can see. The sun was nowhere to be seen, hidden behind its cloudy shield, as if trying to ignore what was happening to its planet. This is what Sky saw every time. [SKYLOX others SLAVE AU]
1. Prologue - How it all changed

Once beautiful world, now laying in ruins, debris everywhere. Empty houses, only standing out of good will. Zombies roaming the streets, skeletons shooting innocent animals as far as the eye can see. The sun was nowhere to be seen, hidden behind its cloudy shield, as if trying to ignore what was happening to its planet.  
This is what Sky saw every time he crawled on his hard bed and stood on his tiptoes to gaze out of the tiny window in his room. The scenery looked always the same, and he would've believed it was stationery, were it not for the mobs that clearly did move.  
Sky peered at the cloudy mess of a sky and judged by the intensity of the light that he finally managed to adjust to that it was a little past six AM. The warden would be there soon to escort him and his friends to the mines, where they would spend their whole day, trying to sneak a few sentences to each other and not go absolutely crazy. They'd have to swing the overweight pickaxes and mine the ores from the miles deep mines and then carry them up to the surface and give them to the other unlucky slaves to refine.  
Truth to his words, the warden came only moments later, a zombie dressed in tatters of what once could've been an actual warden's uniform, but now was only shred of fabric haphazardly thrown over his decaying flesh. Sky's stomach turned from the smell that always accompanied the warden, but he fought the urge to throw up, not wanting what little there was in his stomach to leave him. After all, the next meal will be only at dawn, if they were lucky.  
The metal bars that were his room's door opened with an ear shattering cry and the warden's voice that Sky could now distinguish anywhere tore through the still air, bringing with it numbing smell of rotten flesh.  
"Come on!"  
Sky rose from his position on the metal bed and followed the warden out of his room, trying (and failing) to stay out of his smell's range. He joined two of his friends, Seto, a sorcerer whose powers were blocked by thick metal band around his neck that kind of resembled a collar, and Fluffy, actually named Jerome, but called Fluffy by Sky because of his fur. They were soon joined by a few other friends, namely Mitch, Jerome's bacca, as they preferred to call each other, Jason, who (nearly) never takes off his spacesuit, saying he'd let down all his Stars if he took it off and surrendered, Kermit, a frog that has a problem with pronounciantion, Husky, a Mudkip who they often teased by saying he's a fish, and Sundee, who, just as Sky, never took off his sunglasses.  
The nine of them were best friends even before the war took place, and stuck together even as they fell into slavery. They tried to joke through it, but it was obvious it was too much for them. The work they had to do was brutal, they ate once a day (if they were lucky) and their young bodies just couldn't handle it. Mitch was leaning against Jerome's shoulder as he tried to stay upright, the furry having wrapped an arm around him for stability. Seto didn't look much better, one hand around Jason's neck and the other uselessly clawing at the iron band around his own neck. Sky remembered Seto saying something about magic channels, how they ran through mages' bodies and helped with their overall health, and figured Seto must've problems with breathing by the looks of it. Jason's hand rubbing soothing circles onto his back obviously didn't help any.  
Sky saved them a bit of pain by grabbing his and three other picks when they entered the tool storage, which was in reality just another cell. Jason nodded his way, holding Seto up, and Jerome shot him a thankful look while he grabbed his own pick and guided Mitch down the seemingly endless stairs that led to the mine.


	2. Chapter 1 - The Ex-commander

As expected, the work they had to do was as brutal as it could get. They swung their picks dutyfully, though taking pauses for Seto an Mitch, covering for them as they caught their breath, or in Seto's case, didn't catch it. He seeming couldn't take a deep breath, and kept trying to, uselessly, claw away the iron band around his neck.

When Jason asked about it, Seto explained that it blocked his abilities as a mage, and that, in turn, weakened his body. No one tried to push it further.

They were sweaty not even two hours from starting, muscles screaming in an effort to continue working. But there was something off.

Something just felt odd. Sky looked around, eyes immediately landing on a male he'd never seen before. Said male looked a bit younger than Sky himself, he had mid-length brown hair and bangs that covered one of his emerald eyes. He was dressed in a white V-neck and grey pants with holes on the knees. His skin was pale and face uncertain.

He definitely didn't belong here.

Only then did Sky realise there was a guard holding onto a leash connected to the boy's neck, grasping it tightly like the boy could actually run off or something. Yeah, fat chance, Sky thought.

The boy looked like a stick.

The guard unlocked the collar with a silver key and pocketed the leash into his holey pocket. He said something, but Sky couldn't hear what. He did, however, smell the scent of rotten flesh even from the distance. Stomach twisting, he tried to calm himself, not wanting to puke.

This was the third time that day he held back the urge to hurl. He'd have to give himself a medal for that later.

His hands grasped the pick when he saw the dead eyes of the guard turn their way, and quickly dug it into the nearest wall, hitting a vein. He called the others, eyes never leaving the new, small male. He had been left there alone, just uncertainly standing there and looking down at his feet. Sky, Jerome and Jason raised their picks and swung them at the vein until all of the copper wasn't laying on the dirty floor. Sky started putting it into the minecart, telling Jason and Jerome to "cut themselves some slack and watch their boyfriends", at which both blushed, Jerome's blush pretty invisible under all his fur that Sky still didn't understand how didn't overheat, but Sky still knew it was there.

After the minecart had been filled, Sky moved behind it and grasped the handles on either side. He pushed with all his strength, the minecart's wheels screeching terribly on the rails. He

pushed and pushed, and after a while Kermit came to help him, and they pushed the cart out of the mine in about half an hour. They were a panting mess with sweat sticking to them when they returned.

Immediately, Sky noticed the new guy was still there, still in the same stop, but now sitting, propping himself up with his hands. He was looking around, but no emotion could be read from his face. It honestly creeped Sky out.

Before anyone could talk him out of it, Seto nonchalantly walked over to the boy, well, as nonchalantly as he could, seeing as he was pretty much on the brink of passing out by then. He said something and the boy nodded. Seto flopped down next to him, sighing in relief that flooded him when his feet didn't hold his (small) weight anymore. He rubbed at his neck and that seemed to spark the boy's interest.

He turned around to look at Seto directly, hands reaching out and grasping the iron band. He hummed and dug into his pocket. A moment later, his hand retrieved a piece of wire. He toyed with it for a bit and then inserted it into the lock on the iron collar.

The wire was twisted a bit back and front and then an audible click resounded through the mine. The collar opened, falling into the chocolate haired boy's awaiting hand. It was then throw onto the ground and stomped on until you couldn't tell wires and pieces of iron apart.

Seto let out a low moan and rubbed the sore are on his neck, his boyfriend rushing over and asking if he was okay. Seto nodded with a smile. It was obvious how much better he was now.

All eyes turned to look at the new boy, who was just then stuffing the piece of wire into his pocket.

"Who are you?" Jerome asked, finally breaking the silence that was slowly turning very uncomfortable.

"I'm Deadlox, ex-commander of the Dead army."


	3. Chapter 2 - It's fine

_A/N: This took __**such**__ a long time, I'm sincerely sorry._

Sky had heard about the Dead army before, but he had never met any of its members, much less its Commander. Sky extended his hand, giving the lanky boy a handshake.

"Sky, Ex-Commander of Sky army," he introduced himself bitterly.

"Pleasure to meet you," Ty said, proceeding to laugh afterwards.

"What's so funny?" Sky asked, leaning onto his pickaxe.

"We are," the brunet answered, "Using formalities, like that is ever gonna become a thing again," he mumbled, drawing a little skull and bones into the mine's dirty ground with his index finger.

"What do you mean?" Jerome asked. By then, all of them were sitting/standing in an awkward circle.

"Our time is gone. Our ruling ended." Ty said, looking at the ground. "We are no longer the Kings of this land."

Sky exchanged looks with the others.

"Bullshit," Seto said openly, surprising everyone, "We'll get out land back," he said reassuringly, offering others a small smile.

Such bold words weren't too common with Seto, so that's why they made everyone stare at the young mage.

They all grinned, except for Ty, who stared at them blankly, trying to understand what they were laughing about.

They were interrupted by the Warden, who - somehow - managed to sneak up to them. How they didn't notice the awful smell was beyond them, but they couldn't dwell on it as they were getting yelled at, the Warden's cold, dead voice rising in pitch.

He pointed back at the mineshaft entrance, sending them up with a glare. They all went more than willingly, but the zombie's half-rotten hand reached out and grasped the back of Ty's shirt.

"You'll come with me," the Warden mumbled, gripping the stained, white shirt and pulling him upstairs himself.

"Where's Ty?" Sky asked when they were back in their cells, talking to Jerome through the crack in the wall.

"The Warden took him somewhere," Jerome said.

There was a creaking of the iron bars as the door on the cell on the left of Sky opened. They both piped up.

That cell wasn't used mist of the time; it was an extra reinforced cell. Only the biggest rebels got thrown there.

Sky wondered who was the poor soul stuck there tonight as the Warden passed his door, the whiff of rotten smell passing by, making his stomach flip. He would've thought he'd get used to the disgusting smell, but he didn't.

"You okay?" Jerome asked him as he tried to keep his bile down.

"Yeah…" he mumbled, falling onto his bed with a sigh. His tired body yearned for some rest, and he decided he could as well get it.

He was startled awake by a sudden yell.

It came from the cell on the left. It was short and loud, full of sudden pain.

Almost unrecognisable under the layers of pain was Ty's voice, twisted and deformed.

Sky shot up on his hard mattress. As sudden as the shout started, it ended.

"Ty!" he cried out. "Are you okay?!"

From behind the stone wall, Ty's small, feeble voice answered. "It's okay."


	4. Chapter 3 - Don't worry

**Ty's POV**

The sharp pain raced through my spine way too suddenly.

I couldn't hold in the shout of pain, but I managed to shorten it by quite a bit.

Not quite enough, it seemed.

I could hear Sky's voice through the thick walls, concerned and almost panicked. He was asking if I was fine. Oh, how I wanted to scream, shout, yell that no, _no I was not okay_! but I couldn't.

He'd run away, he'd be scared, he'd fear me, just like they all did.

Willing the fat, salty tears away, I whispered back to him that I was fine, even though my voice cracked and sounded way too weak.

My body shuddered, I could feel the blood running down my back, hot and sticky.

Sky, thankfully, seemed to let the matters go. I sighed in relief, curling on my side on the cold stone ground, at least a bit numbing the searing pain.

The extra appendages wrapped around my body like a protective shell as I closed my eyes, trying to drown out everything and go to sleep.

* * *

The morning rolled in way too soon for the likes of anyone. Except the Warden, who seemed to take immerse pleasure in walking from cell to cell and waking up the fugitives by banging his batong against the metal bars.

Ty stirred, rolling onto his back. He hissed in pleasure as his scarred flesh met the cold stone. He sat up, grabbing his shirt from where he threw it before, pulling it over his head.

He looked out from the little window at the top of the opposite wall, gazing up at the dark sky. It must've been just a little after sunrise, as the small particles of ash glimmered in the soft, broken sunlight.

He sighed as the door opened, hideous screech coming from the hinges that weren't oiled in a way too long time.

The Warden grasped his arm none-too-gently and yanked him up onto his feet, shackling his wrists behind his back.

Ty snickered under his breath. No matter how much he'd try now, he had no chance of breaking the metal. It seemed too silly to him that the zombie would restrain him, even though he didn't need to be restrained.

To be honest, he was just happy that he could even stand on his two wobbly feet.

Seto grasped two picks from Sky when he attempted to bring them all down in one go. The mage seemed to be much, much better now that the collar was gone. In fact, he floated all of the tools, bringing them with them down the stairs.

He seemed to have too much energy now, but Sky guessed that was to be expected. There was a soft smile plastered on the short brunet's face. That was the first smile Sky had seen in months, and seeing it on Seto's face was… weird, for the lack of a better word.

Down in the mineshaft, everything seemed exactly like they left it. No surprise there. They got to work, chipping away at the exposed vein of gold.

The clattering of metal, unlike the minecarts' sounds, brought their attention. The Warden was tugging on Ty's bound hands, pulling him down the stairs harshly. Sky was surprised the lanky boy didn't fall.

He unshackled the boy when they reached the bottom and the Warden left with a sneer, leaving only a stench of death behind.

Ty smiled gently at them, almost matching Seto, even though his eyes were hollow.

"Good morning!" he said, picking up a pick.

"Ty…" Sky mumbled, stopping. "What happened to you yesterday?" he asked, leaning onto the metal tool.

"What do you mean?" Ty asked, cocking his head slightly. "Nothing happened."

"You fucking cried out," Sky said. "The whole prison heard it, don't act dumbfound."

"Everything's fine, don't worry."

* * *

**Ty's POV**

I bit my lip.

_Please stop._

I averted my eyes.

_Don't ask me._

My shoulders slumped.

_I don't want you to hate me._

"Don't worry about it!"

_Please._

**Please.**


	5. Chapter 4 - Jealous

To Sky's great surprise, it turned out that Ty wasn't as lanky as it seemed, and he could hold out for himself. Doubled with the help of Seto's levitation magic, it created the easiest day so far.  
Through they were all beat by the end of it, it was still much better than the day before.  
Sky kept a close eye on Ty, but didn't notice anything too unusual. He did learn that there were a few members of Dead army in the prison, though.  
They greeted Ty with a salute as they went along their work. Sky saw the brunet smile at them, but when they passed, the smile faded, being replaced by a dark look as he continued his mining.  
Sky's brow scrunched. What happened to the pale boy?

Ty's POW  
Some recruits stopped me in the work. They saluted and greeted me, walking along with the ores they were carrying.  
I bit ny lip, looking down. These guys were sent right here, unlike me and a few squads. They didn't know what happened.  
I raised the pick again, chipping away at the Redstone vein in the wall.  
It was strange, honestly, seeing someone not afraid of me.  
Well, ignorance feigns caring, I supposed.  
I raised my pick high, smashing it down with as much force as I could muster up. Heavy clank echoed through the shaft, chunks of ore and stone falling to my feet. I could feel eyes on me as I panted lightly.  
"What is it?" I asked, leaning on the pick's wooden handle. Sky was frowning, looking at me, but through me at the same time.

Sky jolted, letting go of the pick he was leaning on himself. It fell to the ground with a thud.  
"Nothing," he muttered, crouching down to pick the tool up.  
Ty shook his head. "Were you checking me out?" he asked teasingly, looking away almost immediately.  
Okay, that was dumb.  
Sky looked away, pink dusting his cheeks as he stammered. "O-Of course not!"  
Ty chuckled. The sound was really hollow to himself, but no one else seemed to notice.  
That was good, he supposed.  
He didn't need questions. Not on the nightly pain, not on his body, and most of all, not on that little ball of sadness spreading throughout his chest.  
It was really weird, watching the group of friends as they worked, joking and laughing left and right.  
Something was aching inside of Ty's chest. He was… He was jealous, that's what it was.  
He felt both happy - he couldn't help it; they looked really nice and happy together - and empty inside - he couldn't help it; they looked so happy, without him.  
He didn't even mind as the Warden came and shackled his wrists again. He followed up the shaft, averting his face as the others send his questioning looks.  
He didn't belong here, not at all, that's what he told himself.


	6. Chapter 5 - Stars

Ty's POV

I bit my knuckles.

The coppery taste of my blood hit my tongue, making me scrunch my face in a grimace.

My bare chest was heaving with heavy pants. I relaxed as the pain began to slowly fade away.

I wiped the blood off of my knuckles onto my jeans. I was, slowly but surely, getting used to being silent.

It came off as weird to me at first, but I didn't want Sky and the others to worry.

Or question me.

I just didn't want them to know. I actually wondered how they didn't piece it together yet, from the sounds coming out of my cell and whatnot.

I'm sure the cell isn't soundproof – that would make zero sense – and the leathery flaps of my hideous wings were always pretty loud, at least to me.

I sighed, grabbing the small rag that was laying next to me. I dunked it into a water bucket, bringing it to my back to wipe away the blood there.

As I gazed into the corner, on the pile of wing skeletons there, I couldn't help but wonder why they even sent me here.

At least in the End the wings stayed on, not like here; falling off every time the sun set, accompanied by agonizing pain.

Maybe this was a part of one of their experiments; trying to see the effects of the Overworld on a hybrid body. That would make the most sense, in my eyes. Their experiment were always a bit over the top.

Well, I guess it can't be helped.

* * *

Sky's POV

I laid on my bed, gazing up at the stone ceiling. The night was quiet, for a change.

No chatter from Mitch and Jerome's cell nor anything from Ty.

He was quiet for a few days, now. He seemed to always be thinking about something, always deep in thoughts.

I often wondered what was running through his mind. I thought about his previous cries a lot, too. They were still pretty fresh in my mind, I could almost hear it if I closed my eyes.

I wanted to know what caused them!

Surely it couldn't have been the Warden punishing him. He stopped doing that a long time ago and anyway, Ty hadn't done anything wrong. At least, not anything I knew of.

With a groan, I turned over, facing the wall.

Maybe I should ask him. It's gonna eat me alive if I don't.

* * *

TP's POV

"Gimme!" Ssundee demanded, taking a plate out of Jason's hand.

"It tastes like shit," Mitch remarked as he pushed his own plate towards the brunet.

"It's still cake, dood!" Ssundee shot back, mouth full.

The two started a silly argument about the cakes, drawing in Jason and Jerome, too.

Sky left his portion for Ssundee, standing up to walk to Ty, who was silently eating, looking at the arguing boys with a sort of distant look.

Sky flopped himself next to him, gently nudging his shoulder.

Ty turned to him with a soft "Huh?"

"I wanna ask you something," Sky mumbled.

"Okay, what is it?" Ty asked when he swallowed.

_Please, nothing about the nights_, he thought.

"What happened that time you cried out? Did the Warden hurt you?" Sky asked, a flame forming in his eyes by the end.

Ty looked away, setting the fork down.

"I can't tell you."

The stars weren't being nice to him that time.


End file.
